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Are You Ready to Confront the Most Terrifying Toilet Paper in the World?

If you were terrified by the Ring series featuring Sadako, you may want to steer clear of this particular brand of toilet paper. But, you may ask, how can toilet paper be terrifying? Well, once you read about this unique toilet paper, I think you’ll agree that it’s one scary product! This toilet paper, made by tissue and toilet paper manufacturer Hayashi Paper, has printed on it a novella by Koji Suzuki, the author of the original Ring novels! And the best part? It’s now going to be available in English! Read More

Finally Put an End to Mobile Phones Slipping Out Of Your Shirt Pocket with K-Pocke

I can’t recall how many times mobile phones and mp3 players have slipped out of the front pocket of my shirt.  Always ending with that cringe inducing thud as my precious device hits the cold hard ground.  There was even one incident involving a turtle pond and now-gone iPod Classic that I can’t bear to go into.

If someone was videotaping all these moments in my life it would have made an excellent opening to a commercial for K-Pocke (pronounced like pokemon), a pocket designed so that nothing slips out.

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Are the people of Evian Naïve Enough to Buy Evian Bottled Water? We Investigate

It’s safe to say Evian is the most popular brand of bottled water one the market today. It’s also well known that the water is said to come from various collection points of a spring around Évian-les-Bains (Evian for short).

However, the metaphysical question of the day is, do people in Evian drink Evian?  Rumor has it that all through the town, the water is readily available for free, and no one ever buys it. RocketNews went in to answer this and deeper questions.

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Cockroach-Killer Spider (aka Fighting Nope with More Nope)

Ah, the rainy season is upon us here in Japan. Actually, this applies to folks everywhere in humid climates, but there’s a certain creature that rejoices in this environment, known for its shininess and disconcerting nimbleness and reflexes. That’s right: the cockroach. Have you set up your home defenses for this summer?

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Custom Made Notebooks Going Like Custom Made Hotcakes

A bookstore called Sanseido, in the Jinbo book selling district of Tokyo, on 1 April announced that they would be selling custom-made notebooks, and it wasn’t a joke.  In fact, they have been flying off the shelves, which is good because these books are ready to take away moments after ordering them.

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  • Jun 16, 2012

Incredible (and almost impossible) paper craft – this rose doesn’t smell sweet but certainly is beautiful!

Do you enjoy the Japanese paper craft of origami? If you do, here’s a video that’s sure to fascinate you! The video shows an exquisite paper rose being made, and it’s been receiving a considerable amount of attention recently – and not just for the impressive skill demonstrated. It’s actually causing many internet viewers to cry out in frustration, and once you see the video, you’ll know the reason why. Read More

Mindreading App (Shut Up and Take More Of My Free Will Away)?

At first glance, this tech news report seems to be telling us of an intriguing augmented reality app that’s scary good. When you point your camera at an object, it can automatically read your mind about what you’ll want to do next on the internet with respect to that object, like get a coupon for it or research about it on Wikipedia. Which would bring to mind various questions, such as, is it like auto-fill/auto-complete, remembering what you or others have done before, taken a few steps further? Is it selectively taking you to a website that’s ultimately aiming to get your money? Is it inviting you to give up your free will and just be satisfied with the website it saw fit to jump you to? How does it know what you want to do? Read More


  • Jun 15, 2012

That’s no Battle Station! It’s an Ice Sphere – in the Shape of the Death Star!

Okay, we think all of you Star Wars fans out there will love this product! Do you remember being impressed when the Death Star appeared in the very first Star Wars movie accompanied by Ben Kenobi’s famous words, “That’s no moon. It’s a space station!”? Well, now you can create your own Death Star – from ice! Read More


  • Jun 14, 2012

What’s that shadow? It’s a bird, it’s a plane – no it’s the planet Venus, and it won’t be happening again for another 105 years!

We previously brought you a video capturing beautiful images of a “super moon“, but we now have some amazing photos from another astronomical event – the transit of planet Venus across the Sun. The event was observed in Japan on June 6th over a period of approximately six hours starting from 7 a.m. Japan Time. You may want to take a look at these images, because the next time Venus makes a transit across the Sun will be 105 years from now! Read More

Newly Developed Memory Could Make Your Smartphone Battery Last 10 Times Longer

Good news for users of smartphones and other portable devices constantly frustrated by batteries that don’t seem to last the day.  A new type of energy saving memory has been successfully developed that can extend your battery life from 5 to 10 times.

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Hakone Opens an Evangelion Themed Souvenir Shop, Hopes They Don’t Get Overrun With Fans Again

Following the opening of Evangelion Store Tokyo-01, and with the release of the third installment of the reboot series, Evangelion 3.0: You Can (Not) Redo, a new Evangelion souvenir shop is scheduled to open in the town of Hakone on 14 July.

Hakone, which serves as the backdrop for the Evangelion story (where it’s renamed as Tokyo-3), is happy to be home to the second official Evangelion store, called “Eva Shop” but is also hoping they don’t get a repeat of what happened two years ago.

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Researchers Identify Protein Responsible for the Effects of Aging, Rather than a Fountain of Youth, We May Need a Syphon of Old

A research group headed by Professor Kazunari Komuro at Osaka University believes they have found the chemical responsible for effects of aging like deterioration of muscles.

The nasty chemical responsible for making us old and frail is called C1q. Being able to regulate it in our bodies can possibly lead to treatments and prevention of more serious health problems like heart attacks and strokes.

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We Travel to China to Investigate Their Fabled Melt-Proof Ice Pop

Legend has it that in China there exists a frozen treat so incredibly powerful that it never melts, even if left in room temperature.  RocketNews sent a reporter into the mysterious country to learn more about this potent popsicle of the gods.

The following takes place between 3:40pm and 6:50pm. Events occur in real time… if you’re really slow at reading.

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You Can Have Your Very Own Whale Party on iPhone Messages In Just a Few Simple Steps

If you’re an iPhone user you probably are very familiar with its Messages app which allows you to easily send instant mails to friends and family.  Even if you don’t have an iPhone you’ve probably seen it in one of the many funny pictures of auto-correct gone wrong floating around the net.

Here’s a little trick that’s also been circulating the internet on how to make a cute little whale using the iPhone Messages speech bubble format.  It’s so easy anyone can do it.

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  • Jun 10, 2012

[Video] From sick animal to beautiful healthy kitten – one cat’s amazing recovery will warm your hearts!

See this picture of an adorable kitten? Well, just one month earlier, this kitten was a sorry sight – she was very sick and her eyes were closed shut with an infection. Fortunately, she was found by someone kind who gave her the food and tender loving care she so desperately needed, and in the space of just one month, she makes an amazing recovery from a sick little animal to a beautiful healthy kitten! And it’s all captured in a lovely, heartwarming video. Read More

[Quiz] How Well Do You Know Your Japanese Hand Gestures?

Recently we ran an article about obscene gestures in many parts of the world, but now RocketNews would like to turn the lens inwards for a look at Japan’s hand gestures.

You may have some experience with these from spending time in Japan or from Japanese film and manga, but how well do you really think you know the gestures of this country? Take this quiz to find out.

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Smartphone Vs Wine Bottle: Can this New “Shockproof Film” Save the Mobile Device?

While attending Wireless Japan 2012 this year, we were able to see some offerings by the best companies of the mobile industry.  But many times, it’s the small to mid-sized businesses that really aim to make a name for themselves.

Enter Sun Crest Ltd., who shocked many with their line of shockproof screen film protectors.  Although it’s not officially released, we got ahold of a sample and put it to the test with some whacks from a wine bottle.

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Breakthrough Material Can Alternate Between a Solid and a Liquid Simply by Shining a Light

The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST for mercifully short) has announced the development of a new material that can be used as an adhesive product.

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  • Jun 7, 2012

Worried about power shortage? Now you can carry around your own portable solar power source!

Conservation and efficient use of energy is a huge issue these days, particularly in Japan where the nuclear power plants have been shut down and people are seriously concerned about whether we will have enough electric power in the coming summer months when electricity use will be at the highest. Well, if you’re worried about running out of electric power, here’s the perfect gadget for you – your very own portable solar panel kit! Read More


  • Jun 7, 2012

A new innovative drink to come out from Suntory – but have they gotten a bit too innovative this time?

In recent months, we’ve brought to you news on several interesting and creative beverages such as fat-busting cola, salty watermelon flavored pepsi and Okinawa brown sugar cola. Now, major beverage maker Suntory Holdings Limited has announced another new innovative drink that will come on to the Japanese market on July 31. The new drink, called Espressoda, is actually a carbonated coffee drink! However, based on the response on the internet, it appears that Japanese consumers are not so sure about coffee soda as a drink. Read More

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